Everything you need to understand or teach Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut.
"Harrison Bergeron" is set in the future, when Constitutional Amendments have made everyone equal. The agents of the Handicapper General (H-G men, an allusion to the practice in the 1940s and 1950s of referring to Federal Bureau of Investigation and Secret Service officers as G-men, the G standing for government) enforce the equality laws.
People are made equal by devices which bring them down to the normalcy level in the story, which is actually below-average in intelligence, strength, and ability. These devices include weights to stunt speed and strength; masks, red rubber clown noses, or thick glasses to hide good looks and to make seeing difficult; and radio transmitters implanted in the ears of intelligent people, which emit sharp noises two or three times a minute to prevent sustained thought.
In April, described as "clammy" and driving "people crazy by not being springtime," H-G men take Harrison Bergeron—son... View more of the Harrison Bergeron Summary
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
